Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Delian League: The Athenian Empire

In the era of globalization,
regional and world organizations are trending. In Pacific, there exist the
organizations of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC and Association of
Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN. In the west, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization or NATO and the European Union or EU dominated the groupings in
the western hemisphere. During the ancient times, regional organization or
groupings also existed. In Greece, such groupings includes the Athens led
organization known as the Delian League.

The Delian League (477 BCE –
409 BCE) was an organization of Greek cities formed at the midst of the Persian
invasion of several Greek Cities. In the past, the whole Greek world was
constituted of many independent city states. Two major powers joined together
to block the advance of the Persian: Athens and Sparta. When the Greeks won a
major victory against the Persians during the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE, the
Athenians wanted to form an organization that would create the bulk of
thwarting the Persian invasion. Many Ionian cities in the Asia Minor pushed for
such an idea. They wanted a collective defense grouping that would help to
secure their independence against the onslaught of the Persian army. For three
years, negotiations were conducted by many city state for the establishment of
such organization. In 479 BCE in the island of Delos, at the temple of Apollo,
the so-called Delian League was formed.

Every single major cities joined
to the alliance. However, the Kingdom of Sparta declined to join the league.
They saw their independence more important.

The Delian
League was given the mechanisms necessary to accomplish its mandate – harassing
the Persians and liberate the Greek cities they captured. Athens, a great
power, was made leader of the league by the members. Athens then gave
obligations to members of the Delian League to give contributions for the cause
of the organization. Some minor city states paid in form of silver talents, at
least seven a year was expected. The biggest silver contributor for the league
during the 450’s BCE was the city state of Aegina. The main treasury of the
League was kept in the temple of Apollo in the island of Delos, thus the name
Delian League. But for some of the major cities like Samos, Chios, Lesbos, they
contributed ships, the trireme, as well as rowers to operate such big ships.
The Delian League also had a council or synodos that would be the consultative
and administrative body of the League. Each member would send a deputy to the
council and each had one vote in the council. Moreover, the council was to meet
annually to discuss issues, problems, and strategies for defeating the Persian.

The League was responsible
for many engagements against the Persians. With its army and powerful navy,
city by city, they liberated many Dorian cities in Asia Minor. They also
defeated the Persians at the Battle of Eurymedon River in Pamphylia located in
Asia Minor.

By the middle of the 400’s
BCE, the Delian League faced a turning point. By that time, the Delian League
was a power to reckon with. It had over two hundred members. In Athens, a new
leader rose to the highest power. Pericles. He wanted to establish an imperial
Athens. With a large and powerful navy, he demanded the transfer of the League’s
treasury from Dellos to Athens. He then siphoned some of the treasury’s money
to construct a city that better fits the status of Athens. The center piece of
Pericles imperial capital of Athens was the Parthenon and its gigantic statue
of Athena made of ivory and gold.

In 449 BCE, the purpose of
the League was supposed to have ended. On that year, the Persians and the
Greeks made peace with Callias, an Athenian politician, negotiated the
settlement. With the peace on hand, many city states wanted to dissolve the
alliance. But Greece did not wanted that to happen.

With the League, Athens was
able to profit hugely. Most of its budget came from the tributes of the League.
From League, Athens was able to spread its idea of democracy. It spread its
culture across the Aegean Sea. It also began a golden age of science,
mathematics, philosophy, and most of Greek contributions to the world. With the
Delian League, Athens faced its golden age.From the period of peace
with Persians, many city states of the Delian began to rebel and to reclaim
their independence. In 440 BCE, the state of Samos rebelled but was brutally
crashed by the Athenians. In Mytilene also rebelled against the Athens in 427
BCE. In 425, Athens double the amount of tribute due to capital city. After the
increase, more rebellions erupted. The most successful of which was the
rebellion of Syracuse in the island of Sicily.The final chapter of the
League was the eruption of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BCE. Many of the Delian
League members wanted to cede from the organization after the doubling of
tribute. As a result, many city states such as Chios, Miletus, Byzantium,
Mytilene, ephesos, Thasos, and Euboea formed an alliance with the archenemy of
Athens - Sparta. Under the lead of Sparta, the new Peloponnesian League brought
down the city of Athens in 404 BCE. The defeat of Athens, the burning of the city,
was the concluding event of the Delian League.